The field of the invention relates generally to the manufacture of composite components and more particularly, to ceramic composite components and methods of fabricating the same.
Because of the heat and temperature resistivity of ceramic materials, components fabricated from ceramic materials are often used in lieu of components fabricated from other materials, such as metal components. Often, ceramic components are fabricated with a hollow cavity or flow passage defined therein that enables cooling fluid to be channeled through the components to facilitate cooling, or other transfer of energy, to the components and/or components downstream from the ceramic components. For example, at least some known gas turbine engines include components that may be at least partially manufactured from a composite material. Such turbine components may be at least partially cooled by a film of cooling air discharged from a cavity defined in the component.
At least one known method of fabricating ceramic components involves a casting process in which multiple cooling slots are formed in the components in a plurality of substantially parallel rows. For example, in known components, each of the slots created in the component is formed with one or more lengths when the component is fabricated using a lost wax or investment casting process. During such a casting process, an insert is used to create the component. While such a process is commonly used with non-ceramic components, manufacturing ceramic components with such a casting process may be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.
Another known method of fabricating composite components is a layering method of fabrication. In such a method, several layers of ceramic materials may be coupled together such that passages may be later formed using a drill or other forms of energy to systematically remove existing material. However, because of the strength of the materials used in fabricating such components, drill bits, or other forms of energy transfer devices and systems, may prematurely wear out, thus increasing the cost of fabrication. Moreover, in such a fabrication process, the orientation of each passage is limited because of the inherent limitations of known drill bits or other energy transfer devices and systems.